The predominantly brief pieces here are mainly low-lit ruminations by Hulsmann and bassist Marc Muellbauer: there's the Wayne Shorteresque Quicksilver, with its deployment of Arthurs' lustrous sound at either end of the register; Hulsmann's slowly pulsing Dunkel (on which the Englishman is at his most Kenny Wheeler-like); plus a group of very slow pieces and then the more postboppishly intricate Meander. A spellbinding trio account of singer/songwriter Feist's The Water and an imploring muted-trumpet interpretation of Manuel de Falla's Nana are the only covers. Julia Hulsmann's work often unveils its secrets slowly – Tord Gustavsen admirers might be natural recruits to her fan club – but Arthurs quickens the process here.John Fordham, The Guardian

The new addition is the former BBC Radio 3 New Generation artist, now Berlin-based English trumpeter and flugelhornist Tom Arthurs. Although still only in his early thirties, Arthurs looks to have blossomed into a more poised, discerning version of the fresh-faced mercurial, contemporary classical-jazz experimenter that emerged in London about a decade ago. His Kenny Wheeler-like vocalisations and leaps in register are more playful than brooding and work very well against the finely tuned understatements of the imaginative yet economical Hülsmann and her established rhythm section of bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Heinrich Köbberling. [...] Although the recording belongs essentially to the enigmatic, contemplative school of European jazz linked to Manfred Eicher’s label, there are episodes of sharp rhythmic intensity too especially from the restlessly lyrical Arthurs, and the warm chemistry of the ensemble play is one of its most engaging characteristics.Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise

For this her third album for the label, the pianist has expanded the group to a quartet, adding Berlin resident Tom Arthurs on trumpet and flugelhorn to her established core line up with bassist Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling on drums, and by doing so has not just added an additional, and entirely sympathetic and compatible voice, but also brought a new and fresh concept to her compositions. Arthur’s quiet yet voluptuous tone on both trumpet and flugel add not just a new melody instrument but also bring a whole array of new colours to both the ensemble sound and in the way the pianist will voice her accompaniment. With the ability to now double up melody lines or open up chordal voicings with wider intervals. [...] The result of this shift and adaption to change has produced a calm and contemplative set that revels in the new colours, and light and shade that are now part of their sonic palette. Hülsmann’s touch at the piano is firm yet allows her voicings to breathe and be heard with clarity, whilst Arthurs’ tone is breathy yet surprisingly full on open trumpet. [...] Another intelligent and intelligently programmed set from ECM, that shows Hülsmann to be a major contributor to the label’s roster.Nick Lea, Jazz Views

‘In Full View’ ups the ante, expanding Hülsmann's trio to a quartet with the addition of British trumpeter Tom Arthurs. Continuing ‘Imprint's more outgoing direction has not come at the expense of the gentle elegance endemic to the trio's ECM debut; instead, Arthurs' voice expands the group's reach without losing anything carved out since Hülsmann's move to the label.
It's hard not to feel ex-ECM alum (and fellow UK-resident) Kenny Wheeler's influence—not just on Arthurs' playing, but in the quartet's overall engagement. Avoiding Wheeler's signature intervallic/stratospheric leaps but referencing the Canadian expat trumpeter's rich tone and melancholic approach to lyricism, Arthurs' broader interest in contemporary classicism and Afro-centric music afford the younger trumpeter his own specificity.
Some of the vibe from Wheeler's early ECM recordings – in particular the similarly configured, award-winning ‘Gnu High’ (1976) – imbues Hülsmann's quartet, especially on drummer Heinrich Köbberling's ‘Forever Old’, which manages to swing gently despite being in 5/4, and an initially darker, rubato piano/trumpet intro that leads to bassist Muellbauer's similarly odd-metered but smoothly flowing and gradually intensifying ‘Meander’, its simmering pulse strengthened by the bassist's robust foundation and Köbberling's subtle shadings. Arthurs' episodic ‘Forgotten Poetry’ is also underscored by a Wheeler connection, its deceptively simple melody weaving through some change-heavy balladry, time briefly contracting and expanding before settling into some understated interplay between Arthurs and Hülsmann until the trumpeter removes himself, ultimately leaving the pianist to ruminate over Muellbauer and Köbberling's firm yet pliant support. [...] Beyond the obvious addition of a fourth voice, there's a stronger sense of effortless collective aplomb on ‘In Full View’.John Kelman, AllAboutJazz

Obwohl sie über exzellente pianistische Fähigkeiten verfügt, ist großes Auftrumpfen nicht ihr Ding. Da gleicht sie dem großen Hank Jones, dessen Begabung sie teilt, Solisten glänzend dastehen zu lassen. Was die 45jährige nun gemeinsam mit Marc Muellbauer (bass) und Heinrich Köbberling (Drums) auf ihrem neuen Album ‚In Full View’, feinfühlig wie nie zuvor, für den britischen Trompeter Tom Arthurs demonstriert. Der legt mit leicht rauchigem To und nur dezenter Attacke traumverloren schöne Melodien über den kammermusikalischen Wohlklang seiner Begleiter, die heiter und farbenreich mit Raum und Zeit spielen. Immer wieder faszinieren punktgenau gesetzte Akzente im stillen Fluss poetischer Slow-Motion-Stories, die das Julia Hülsmann Quartet in jener Gelassenheit präsentiert, wie es nur wirklich große Erzähler fertigbringen. Delikat!Sven Thielmann, HiFi&Records
With a couple of rock solid trio records for ECM Records under her belt, the jazz pianist from Bonn, Germany undertakes something a little different for her third go around with the storied label. Julia Hülsmann caught a performance by the English trumpeter Tom Arthurs at his adopted Berlin and found his music so compelling, she promptly proposed that they collaborate. Her initial impulse validated within the first few rehearsals, Arthurs ended up expanding Hülsmann's trio - which includes Marc Muellbauer on double-bass and Heinrich Köbberling on drums - into a quartet. 'In Full View' is the first fruit to bear on record from Julia Hülsmann Trio plus One, aka the Julia Hülsmann Quartet. The title reflects Hülsmann's new, wider perspective gained from the introduction of a performer with whom she can share the task of portraying the melody. 'With an extra melody player I can devise my accompaniment differently on the piano,' she points out. 'I can make my chords more wide, use different registers without getting in my own way.' Arthurs is also a master of the flugelhorn, but his trumpet tone is so velvety, it's often hard to tell which brass he chose to play for each of these thirteen selections, most of which were contributed individually by every member of the expanded group. Regardless, his tender, thoughtful touch has found a welcome home in Hülsmann's world, one full of discreet turns and strategies that reaches for modernity beyond the basic standards trio/quartet and follows in the European tradition of chamber-tinged small group jazz. The crucial aspects of 'In Full View' is how well does the trio adapt to Arthurs and in their typically meticulous way, they integrate him rather well.
[....] Nothing wrong at all with Julia Hülsmann's trio records, but the addition of Tom Arthurs to the band revealed itself to be a good way to head off artistic stagnation before it can begin. Her intuition culminated with an album that doesn't change her musical direction, but bolsters her current one.S. Victor Aaron, Something Else! Reviews

‘Tom adds hundreds of new colours to our band sound’ is pianist/composer Julia Hülsmann’s reaction to the impact UK trumpeter Tom Arthurs has had on her trio with bassist Marc Muellbauer and drummer Henrich Köbberling. [...] The ‘new colours’ Hülsmann mentions range from the mellow plangency, occasionaly breaking out into flaring brilliance, Arthurs brings to the bassist’s opener, ‘Quicksilver’, through the brooding lyricism he achieves with his muted instrument on another Muellbauer piece, ‘Gleim’, to the plaintive wistfulness of his contribution to Köbberling’s ‘Forever Old’, the revved-up brashness he adds to Hülsmann’s title-track and the multi-hued virtuosity of his extended solo on his own ‘Forgotten Poetry’.
The resounding success of ‘In Full View’, however, is by no means attributable solely to Arthurs: Hülsmann is clearly a profound and subtle musical thinker, not only unerringly selecting the moods and textures most suitable for expression by her wonderfully sympathetic bandmates, but also displaying her musical forces with sufficient skill so that the album moves easily and unffectedly between the gentlest delicacy and the punchiest robustness. [...] the quartet, throughout this utterly absorbing and consistently engaging album, constantly pull off small miracles of mutual sensitivity and poetic creativity.Chris Parker, London Jazz